This piling on the Browns by the media –“nobody wants the Browns job!”– seems more like wishful thinking and spite against the Browns’ management.

I doubt they ever wanted Adam Gase (not only in his first year as OC but as Manning’s OC which means he isn’t really an OC at all). And many of the names put forth are just so-so candidates anyway. They may have been waiting for a candidate from SF, NE, or Seattle.

I don’t even like the Browns, but they seem to have a plan in place and are a smart bunch.

knowerofallthings says:Jan 21, 2014 3:05 PM

well there are only so many HC jobs so even if it’s the worse franchise in the league it gets him into an elite class…. for one year

The Browns don’t want a head coach, they want a puppet. They fired Chud because he refused to be another pezzonovante,” dancing on the strings held by all of those big shots.”

In the end, that’s what the team wants. There are no coordinators out there the quality of the ones we had last year (Horton & Norv Turner were unemployed less than a week!) so we are screwed from that point. At this junture it doesn’t matter who becomes head coach, the team is doomed until the Stooges leave (Banner & Dombardi). Lombardi is so useless he isn’t even with the team at the Senior Bowl in Alabama this week.

upstaterules says:Jan 21, 2014 3:20 PM

Big loss for Buffalo. He’s a very good coach!! Wish him the best because the Browns are a mess in the FO.

bassplucker says:Jan 21, 2014 3:33 PM

If the Browns truly are gonna draft Johnny Football then a defensive minded HC is probably gonna give them a lot less pushback on that. If Manziel is a star then great and if he flops he’ll just palm it off on his OC and/or QB coach. Far less skin in the game than a HC who is gonna come in with strong ideas about the offense.

Well I am glad another fall back candidate wants this job. Someone had to take it. Pettine wasn’t in the first tier of coaches they wanted–Gase, McDaniels and Quinn. Maybe they will still interview Quinn again. Who knows at this point.

For a coach to be successful in the Browns organization as structured, they need to have access to Haslam—without interference from Banner and Dumbardi. When Dumbo doesn’t get the players that are needed–he will just blame the coaches again. The next coach needs to be strong and have an open door to Haslam.

Of course that would mean Jimmy was in Cleveland and involved with his $1Billion investment- something he really wasn’t last year.

wwwmattcom says:Jan 21, 2014 3:39 PM

Why can’t the Browns just get it right. Jeez. Talk about a flavor of the week team.

Maybe it’s because I don’t live in Cleveland (thus don’t have the whole “woe is me” mindset) or because I live in Indianapolis (who’s front office are complete morons that are 1 Andrew Luck injury away from a 1-15 season and I wish were as competent as what Cleveland currently has..I’ll even take their hot head owner over Indy’s “pot head” owner any day) but I think they are at this point the only team doing it right. The only quality coaching hires I’ve seen so far was Mike Zimmer to the Vikings and Whisenhunt to the Titans and even Whisenhunt is questionable at best as he doesn’t seem to be much of an upgrade from Munchak.

Every other team but Cleveland seemed to grasp at straws and Detroit practically got theirs out of a garbage can. I mean they were actually asking Jim Caldwells references if they wanted the job instead of him. How sad is THAT.

Browns fans, you only THINK you have it bad.

areyoudue says:Jan 21, 2014 3:48 PM

Mike Pettine as the head coach, really??? Sure, the Bills had a pretty good defense last year but the guy has really only been a true coordinator for one year, prior to that Rex was the real coordinator of the Jets. Plus, he was constantly getting cushy with the media while with the Jets. Seems like a guy who would be in way over his head…

This would be a terrible idea for the Browns. This guy still has a lot of work to do as D-coordinator in Buffalo let alone head coaching a trainwreck like Cleveland. Sure, the Bills defense improved a lot under him- but they still had a lot of holes. Their deep-ball coverage was still subpar, they gave up multiple per game. Their run defense was horrendous. Take Kiko away and they wouldnt have stopped anyone on the ground.

The Bills went from top 5 worst defenses in the league to middle of the pack. Get them from middle of the pack to top tier ala Carolina or Seattle has done in recent years and then we’ll talk about him being a head coaching candidate.

That said, the Browns will probably sign him.

mogogo1 says:Jan 21, 2014 3:59 PM

Just have your agent and lawyer very carefully review how the buyout clause will work. Because with the Browns he could already be out of favor by training camp.

rugbyisbetter says:Jan 21, 2014 4:04 PM

This guy has been around football his whole life. When he was growing up his father was the best High School football in PA (just noting how he’s been around coaching all the time). Pettine went on to play at Virginia (DB), then came out and was an Assistant to his father (High School), then took up the rival team in the district and became a phenomenal Head Coach.

He started breaking down film for the Ravens and worked himself all the way up to linebackers coach for them, then later known as a DC. He’s been a DC for years now and is probably ready for the Head Coaching position.

When you fire a coach left and right and pick up sub par qbs you’ll never succeed. With an oline like they have and receivers like little and Cameron along with their defense it’s confusing….

djshnooks says:Jan 21, 2014 4:05 PM

Again people, do your homework.

Mike Pettine took Buffalo’s defense from #31 up to #7…including 2nd in interceptions and tackles…and 3 d-linemen with double-digit sacks. He traded Kelvin Sheppard, a backup MLB in Indy, for Jerry Hughes who had 10 sacks. He turned Kiko Alonso into a stud DROY candidate. He turned Aaron Williams from a bust at CB to a really good thumping SS.

I would rather Buffalo let Cleveland have Marrone like they wanted last year…and the Bills keep Pettine for themselves.

As a Browns fan (barely at this point) I actually like this guy. The constant missing characteristic of all of our head coaches is a fiery attitude. Every coach we get seems so soft and soft spoken. I want s coach that will finally get in someone’s butt.

I would much rather have Pettine than Dan Quinn, most importantly because he actually fits the 3-4 scheme that we spent our entire offseason switching to. If we got Quinn and had to switch back to a 4-3 then that would be absurd.

And besides that he has much more experience. This is only Quinn’s first season as DC.

Maybe most importantly, this dude actually wants the job hahaha. He seems like the only one so we better hire him before he changes his mind.

Buffalo fans [except for the ones every teams fan base wants to get rid of] are pretty knowledgeable. Mike did a great job, and instilled a great work ethic in the players and asst. coaches. We hope he stays. But, if he gets a head coaching job elsewhere, the best to him!!

I actually believe that the browns job opening is a good opportunity for someone I don’t know who but someone. They got a slew of picks, enough cap space to bring in some real talent and they got arguably the best wr in the league in Gordon and a strong te in Cameron and of course a solid defense so if I could coach pro ball…I’d take tht browns job just saying

Being a NFL fan since late 50s, one can say that its getting harder and harder for any one person to be a head coach. If you don’t win the SB in the allotted time of 2-3 yrs you will lose your job. If the players believe you are working them to hard they won’t play and you lose your job. If the players decide they can’t win with your offense, you won’t win and you lose your job,,,,,so on and so forth,,,